Dragon Ball Daima Finally Assembles its Main Team, & it's Already a Massive Improvement Over GT

Warning: Contains spoilers for Dragon Ball Daima episode #5.Since its initial reveal, much has been said about the overlap between Dragon Ball Daima and Dragon Ball GT. Both shows center around Goku going on an adventure after being turned into a child by the Dragon Balls, with GT taking place in space and Daima in the Demon Realm, and the first arcs of both shows even tackle similar themes of poverty and government corruption, as well.

There are undeniable similarities between Dragon Ball Daima and Dragon Ball GT, which can even be seen in the makeup of the main characters of each show. The main groups of both shows play into similar archetypes and personalities, but due to how differently the characters and respective stories are written, Dragon Ball Daima ’s main characters are already written to be far better than the main characters of Dragon Ball GT. GT is still infamously divisive among fans, so Daima putting so much work into improving it on all fronts is great to see.

Dragon Ball Daima's Version Of Goku Is Already Far Better Than GT's

Dragon Ball Daima's Goku Vs Dragon Ball GT's Goku

The biggest comparison between Dragon Ball Daima and Dragon Ball GT can be drawn through how Daima and GT handle Goku's writing. Both shows try to make a point about Goku becoming weaker after becoming a child, but GT couldn’t commit to that and made Goku feel as strong as ever. By comparison, Dragon Ball Daima is far more consistent at depicting a weakened Goku than Dragon Ball GT with things like Goku struggling to fly and needing to use the Power Pole again, and that makes Goku’s situation feel far more impactful and less gimmicky.

More than that, however, is how each show handles Goku’s personality. As with many Dragon Ball projects, GT often wrote Goku with little to no air of seriousness and prioritized his adventurous nature, but while Daima still makes Goku a largely goofy character, Dragon Ball Daima does a better job of striking a balance between Goku’s silly and serious natures compared to GT, with Goku treating the plot with a far larger sense of urgency by comparison. It’s a great shakeup from GT and the overarching franchise, and it’s already made Daima’s take on Goku a great one to watch.

Shin & Glorio Both Take On GT Trunks' Role, & They're Far Better At It

How Shin & Glorio Compare To GT Trunks

In Dragon Ball GT, with Goku and Pan being as eccentric and impulsive as they were, it often fell onto Trunks to be the straight man of the group, but Trunks had little to no personality beyond that, so he was often boring to watch. In Dragon Ball Daima, the role of the straight man is split between Shin and Glorio, but thanks to Shin being an established character and Glorio being an abrasive character with a lot of mystery, Shin and Glorio are far better straight men than GT Trunks on account of having far more to their characters.

Trunks being the straight man also led to him being the one to handle the group’s technology and come up with plans, but even that was often hard to justify due to how he was only on the team because Vegeta forced him to be there. By comparison, while Shin and Glorio aren’t technologically gifted, they both have an understanding of how the Demon Realm works and know how to plan around, especially Glorio, so Dragon Ball Daima gives Shin and Glorio better justification for being the smart members of the cast than Dragon Ball GT did with Trunks, as well.

Dragon Ball Daima's Kid Character Is Already Far Better Than Dragon Ball GT

How Panzy Compares To Pan

Another notable comparison that can be drawn between the casts of Dragon Ball GT and Dragon Ball Daima is between Pan and Panzy. Both characters are meant to be the stereotypical bratty kid characters, but while the only justification for Pan’s inclusion was her being Goku’s granddaughter, Panzy is given a far better justification as another person who wants to stop Gomah and a princess who uses her connections to help the team. Dragon Ball Daima does a far better job justifying Panzy’s involvement than Dragon Ball GT did with Pan, and the show is all the better for it.

The differences between Pan and Panzy can also be seen in how they handle themselves in fights. Both characters are established as the weakest members of their respective teams, but while Pan’s incompetence was often detrimental to herself and others, Panzy’s skill with gadgets and knowledge of the Demon Realm more than make up for any shortcomings in terms of power. Add in how Goku isn’t as far above everyone as he was in GT, and Dragon Ball Daima does a great job of not making Panzy’s weakness as problematic as Dragon Ball GT did with Pan’s.

Panzy’s skill with gadgets also sets up another possible difference between her and Pan. While Pan never truly grew as a fighter or a character, albeit thanks in large part to how much Goku took over the story, Dragon Ball Daima’s theme song teased Bulma and Panzy bonding over their love of inventing, something that could spark growth in Panzy’s character that was sorely missing with Pan. Dragon Ball Daima is already teasing that Panzy will receive more character development than Pan did in Dragon Ball GT, and if it keeps to that, it’ll surely be great to see.

Dragon Ball Daima Continues Fixing Dragon Ball GT's Biggest Problems

Dragon Ball Daima Does GT Right

While it would be disingenuous to write off Dragon Ball Daima as simply a modern take on Dragon Ball GT, it’s undeniable that Daima is fixing many of GT’s biggest problems. Not only does the story have more palatable stakes and better action and animation, but the comedy and overall writing are sharper in Daima, likely due to Akira Toriyama’s heavy involvement in its production. Dragon Ball Daima improves on Dragon Ball GT in almost every technical and writing area, and that’s only going to get better as its story progresses.

Naturally, those sorts of improvements best show themselves with the main characters of each show. The flaws in the main cast of Dragon Ball GT, both as individuals and as a team, made everyone except Goku boring to watch more often than not, but the main cast of Dragon Ball Daima is already avoiding the larger issues of Dragon Ball GT thanks to better characterizations for everyone involved. Dragon Ball Daima continues to deliver on everything Dragon Ball GT should have decades prior, and that’s unlikely to let up anytime soon.

Dragon Ball Daima releases new episodes Fridays on Crunchyroll.

Dragon Ball DAIMA is the fifth overall series in the action-adventure anime franchise. It features most of the classic cast members as de-aged versions of themselves, including Goku, Vegeta, and Bulma. The series was announced at NYCC 2023, with creator Akira Toriyama returning to handle DAIMA's run.

Seasons 1

Writers Akira Toriyama